MAvSSACHUSETTS 

PUBLIC SCHOOL 
SYSTEM 




COMPLIMtNTS OF 
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 



MASSACHUSETTS 

PUBLIC SCHOOL 
SYSTEM 




BOSTON: 1903 

WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING COMPANY 
STATE PRINTERS 






JAN* 10*1905' 
. p.ofD... 



STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 

His Excellency JOHN L. BATES, Governor 
His Honor CURTIS GUILD, Jr., LieuL-Govemor 



JOEL D. MILLER 
MRS. KATE GANNETT WELLS 
CLINTON Q. RICHMOND 
GEORGE L ALDRICH 
ELMER H. CAPEN 
ELIJAH B. STODDARD 
GEORGE H. CONLEY 
MISS CAROLINE HAZARD 

FRANK A. HILL secretary 

C. B. TILLINGHAST 

CLERK AND TREASURER 

JOHN T. PRINCE 
GRENVILLE T. FLETCHER 
HENRY T. BAILEY 
JAMES W. MACDONALD 
ELLIS PETERSON agents 

1903 



THE SCHOOL SYSTEM OF 
MASSACHUSETTS 

THE system of public education in Massachusetts 
is characterized by a maximum of local indepen- 
dence with a minimum of central control. 

The efforts of the state are directed toward stimu- 
lating, directing and supplementing local activity. Its 
legislation in the main follows local public sentiment 
and embodies current local practices. Many of its re- 
quirements are mandatory upon a part of the munic- 
ipalities and permissive to most of them. The fol- 
lowing outline indicates chronologically the successive 
steps in the development of the system. 
__. , . , 1642. The chosen men appointed for 

Historical ., a ^- ^ a ■ ^ ^ 

. managing the prudential affairs of towns 

Outline charged by the General Court with the 

duty of requiring parents and masters to train their 
children in learning and labor and other employments 
which may be profitable to the Commonwealth. 

1647, The school system formally established by 
the General Court. Reading and writing schools re- 
quired ; also grammar schools. Expense to be borne 
by the towns or the parents or both at their pleasure. 

S 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

1789, The school district system recognized. 
School inspection by the ministers and selectmen and 
certificates for school teachers ordered. 







STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, FRAMINGHAM 



1826. High schools (designation "high school" 
not used in the act, however) required in all towns 
above five hundred families; of the second grade in 
towns under four thousand inhabitants and of the first 
grade in towns above. 

Every town required to appoint a school committee. 
Committees required to make school returns to the 
Secretary of the Commonwealth. 

1834. School fund established, not to exceed 
$1,000,000. 

1836. No child imder fifteen years of age to be 
employed in a manufacturing establishment unless he 
6 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

has the preceding year attended school three months 
out of twelve. 

1837. State Board of Education established. Hor- 
ace Mann appointed secretary of the board. 

1839. First State normal school in America opened 
at Lexington. 

Common schools to be kept at least six months 
each year. 

1846. Teachers' institutes established. 

1850. The appointment of agents of the board to 
visit schools authorized. 




STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, WESTFIELD 



Habitual truants between six and fifteen years of 
age to be sent to reform or other schools. 

1852. Children between eight and fourteen years 

7 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

of age required to attend school twelve weeks each 
year, six weeks of which shall be consecutive, 

1854. Superintendents of schools authorized. 

1869. Towns authorized to expend money for the 
conveyance of children to school. 




DORMITORY OF STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, WESTFIELD 



188 1. Women authorized to vote for the school 
committee. 

1882. The school district system, after fifty years 
of controversy and the enactment and repeal of many 
laws relative to its continuance, finally abolished. 

1883. Evening schools authorized. 

1884. Free text-book law enacted. 

1885. Instruction as to the effects of alcoholic 
drinks, stimulants and narcotics on the human system 
required. 

1886. Permanent tenure of office authorized for 
teachers, if towns and cities desire it. 

1891. Free high school instruction required for 
8 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

every town, — towns without high schools of their 
own to furnish it in outside high schools. 

1894. Minimum length of schooling raised to eight 
months. 

School fund to be increased to $5,000,000 by an- 
nual additions of $100,000. 

Manual training required in cities of 20,000 inhabi- 
tants or more. 




STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, BRIDGEWATER 



1898. School attendance, truancy and employment 
laws revised and strengthened. 

1900. Every town and city required to employ a 
superintendent of schools after 1902. 

1902. State aid extended to high school instruction. 

9 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 
The State Board of Edtication consists 



The State 
Board of 
Education 



of the governor and Heutenant governor, 
ex ojjiciis^ and eight otliers appointed by 



the governor for a term of eight years, 
one retiring annually. 



U=l'l Hi- 



wmm 



Sirt 







STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, SALEM 

The board is responsible for the management of 
the state normal schools, the holding of institutes, the 
gathering and publishing of the school statistics of 
the state, the state examination and certification of 
teachers, and the supervision of the education of state 
beneficiaries in schools for the deaf and blind. 

The board cares for the normal schools through 
committees of its own members, called boards of 
visitors. The members of the board serve without 
pay, but are allowed their traveHng expenses by the 
state. 

The board has, in general, no immediate or direct 

lO 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

jurisdiction over the public schools. Nevertheless, 
the board may, and in practice does, to some extent 
through its own members and in a large way through 
its secretary and agents, call local attention to such 
laws, court decisions and principles as should be 
heeded in the local management of the schools. And 
it is the practice of the local school authorities to con- 
sult the board or its ofl&cers freely on doubtful points 
in school administration. In many ways the board 
accomplishes more through these advisory relations 




MASSACHUSETTS NORMAL ART SCHOOL 

than if it were clothed with direct power. It wins 
by reason rather than by authority. The local sense, 
thus respected and trusted, gains in character ; and in 
such gain lies the hope of the schools for better things. 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

_ The secretary of the Board of Education 

_ is not a secretary in the ordinary sense 

d^A ^^ of the word. He does not keep the 
^ records of the board. Nor is he a secre- 

tary in a cabinet sense, for he is not at the head of 




STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, WORCESTER 



the educational department. It is the board that 
holds that place. He is usually classed with the state 
superintendents of schools. He works partly under 
the direction of the board and partly under the imme- 
diate direction of the statutes. His principal duties 
may be summarized as follows : — 

To make abstracts of school returns, collect infor- 
mation respecting the condition and efiQciency of the 
public schools and other means of popular education, 
and distribute the same for the benefit of the General 
Court and the public. 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 



To suggest improvements in the school system to 
the board and to the General Court. 

To visit schools, make educational addresses, hold 
institutes, and serve as one of the two commissioners 
of the Massachusetts school fund. 




I ill ill* 



STATE NORJIAL SCHOOL, FITCHBURG 

To perform such miscellaneous duties as would 
naturally fall to the chief executive officer of the board. 

The board employs several officers called agents. 

Their duty is to visit the schools, confer with teach- 
ers and the school authorities, give educational ad- 
dresses, receive and give information in the same 
manner as the secretary, and in general to promote 
through advisory means the welfare of the public 
schools. Without them the board's knowledge of the 
schools would be largely restricted to statistical de- 
tails. With them, the board sees the schools as they 
actually are. 

13 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 



Besides the general duties mentioned above, the 
following special duties are assigned to individual 
agents: the state examination and certification of 
teachers; the inspection of high schools for the pur- 
pose of state aid; the inspection of normal schools; 
the promotion of industrial drawing. 




Normal 
Schools 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, NORTH ADAMS 

The General Court on the 19th of April, 
1838, appropriated $10,000 to be expended 
by the board at its discretion in training 
teachers. Edmund Dwight of the board had offered 
to give $10,000 for the purpose if the General Court 
would grant an equal amount. The offer of a build- 
ing and other aid by interested persons led to the 
selection of Lexington for the first school. Rev. 
Cyrus Peirce, who had taught with uncommon suc- 
cess as principal of the public school at Nantucket, 
was chosen principal. This school was for young 
women only. On the opening day, July 3, 1839, there 
were but three that presented themselves for exami- 
14 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

nation. Later others appeared, so that the first class 
numbered twenty-five, of whom several are still living 
(1903). The course of study was only one year long 
and included, on the one hand, ordinary academic 
work in the subjects to be subsequently taught, and, 
on the other, the principles and art of teaching. A 
model school of some thirty children, gathered from 
the districts of the town, gave facilities for observa- 
tion and practice. In 1844 the school was trans- 
ferred to West Newton and in 1853 to Framing ham. 




STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, HYANNIS 

maintaining its organization and integrity, however, 
through all its migrations, and it has, therefore, the 
high distinction of being the first state normal school 
in America. 

The second of the three normal schools projected 
by the board was opened at Barre, Sept. 4, 1839, 

15 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 



under Rev. S. P. Newman, for many years professor 
of rhetoric in Bowdoin College, Maine; and the third 
at Bridgewater, Sept. 9, 1840, under Col. Nicholas 
Tillinghast. Both of these schools were for young 
men as well as for young women. 

The state normal schools at present are as follows: 



Normal Schools. 


First Opened. 


Present Principal. 


Framingham, . 


July 3, 1839, 3t Lexington, . 


Henry Whittemore. 


Westfield 


Sept. 4, 1S39, at Barre, . 


Clarence A. Brodeur. 


Bridgewater, 


Sept. 9, 1840, .... 


Albert G. Boyden. 


Salem 


Sept. 14, 1854, 


. 


Walter P. Beckwith. 


Boston, Normal Art, 


Nov. II, 1S73, 




George H. Bartlett. 


Worcester, 


Sept. 15, 1874, 




E. Harlow Russell. 


Fitchburg, 


Sept. II, 1895, 




John G. Thompson. 


North Adams, . 


Feb. I, 1897, . 




Frank F. Murdock. 


Hyannis (Barnstable), 


Sept. 9, 1897, . 




W. A. Baldwin. 


Lowell, .... 


Oct. 4, 1897, . 




Frank F. Cobum. 



Candidates for admission must have attained the 
age of sixteen, if young women and of seventeen, if 
young men. They must be graduates from a four 
years' high school course or must have received an 
equivalent schooling. Their fitness for admission is 
determined : — 

1. By their standing in a physical examination. 

2. By their moral character. 

3. By their high school record. 

4. By a written examination. 

5. By an oral examination. 
i6 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

The courses of study range from two years to four. 
Graduates of colleges and teachers of experience may 
select a course that can be completed in a year and 
receive a certificate therefor. Generous observation 




STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, LOWELL 



and training facilities are furnished. Each school 
has a marked individuality. One is for the training 
of drawing teachers; a second has a department 
of household arts; a third conducts a summer ses- 
sion; a fourth puts its students more fully than the 
rest in entire charge of classrooms for prolonged 
and serious practice; a fifth has an entire system 
of city kindergartens at its disposal for observation 
and practice. 

All the normal schools have dormitories, except 
those in Boston, Salem, Lowell and Worcester. With 
the exception of that at Framingham they are open 

17 



iMASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

to young men as well as to young women. Tuition is 
free to students from Massachusetts intending to teach 
in the state. For others the tuition is $ioo a year in 
the Normal Art School and $50 a year in the other 
schools. 

When in 1896 graduation from a four years' high 
school course or its equivalent was made a prerequisite 
for admission, it was feared that the number of 
students might be reduced. The fear has proved 
groundless. Although four new schools have been 
opened, the attendance at all the schools has mate- 
rially increased. 

The state provides for the education of 
*~ " defective children in special schools. Upon 

the request of parents or guardians, with 
the approval of the Board of Education, the governor 
may send to these schools for a limited term, at the 
expense of the state, for their instruction, support and 
traveling, such deaf, blind and feeble-minded children 
as he may think proper subjects for education. The 
Board of Education directs and supervises the educa- 
tion of such pupils. Pupils are now sent to the fol- 
lowing schools : — 

The American School for the Deaf, Hartford, Conn. 

The Clarke School for the Deaf, Northampton. 

Horace Mann School for the Deaf, Boston. 

Sarah Fuller Home for Little Deaf Children, Med- 
ford. 
18 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

The Boston School for the Deaf. 

Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for 
the Blind, Boston. 

The Massachusetts School for the Feeble-minded, 

Waltham, 

^, -, , The establishment of a school fund in 

ills iStdts 

- 1834 was the beginning of the direct effort 

p of the state as such to supplement the 

work of the local authorities in building 
up the school system. When created, the fund was 
limited to one million dollars. It has since been in- 
creased to five millions. 

For many years those beneficent measures which 
characterized the revival of education in Massachu- 
setts — normal schools, teachers' institutes, and the 
work of the secretary and agents of the Board of 
Education — were carried on by means of the increase 
of the school fund. At the same time the towns 
were being aided in the support of their schools, 
and stimulated to greater exertion by the help 
afforded by the state. 

As the educational system has grown, new ways of 
state help have been discovered, and for these as well 
as for the old ones direct appropriations from the 
treasury are made. 

The entire income of the school fund is now divided 
among those towns of the state the valuation of which 
is less than two and a half milHons of dollars. 

19 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 



Forms of Financial Aid by the State. 

1. Distribution of income of school fund. 

2. Tuition of high school pupils in out of town high 
schools. 

3. Part of the salary of district superintendents. 

4. Tuition and support of deaf, blind and feeble- 
minded children. 

5. Forty scholarships each in the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology and the Worcester Polytech- 
nic Institute. 

6. Annual appropriations to the state and county 
teachers' associations. 

7 . Support of normal schools. 



20 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 



LOCAL SCHOOL SYSTEMS 

Under the impulse of statutory requirements and 
under the fostering care of the state, the towns and 
cities have built up, each for itself, more or less elabo- 
rate school systems. Each town and city is a unit in 
the management of its schools. There are no local 
sub-divisions for support or control. 
1^. -J r The highly organized systems of the cities 
„ and larger towns comprise kindergartens, 

primary schools, grammar schools, high 
schools and evening schools. A few support vacation 
schools. 

In the more sparsely settled communities the un- 
graded school is still the prevailing type. 

Kindergartens are not required by law. Nowhere 
are they in sufficient numbers to prepare all the chil- 
dren for the grades. The minimum age of admission 
is from three to four years, and most of the children 
are withdrawn on reaching the age of five, when they 
may be admitted to the primary schools. 
„. , Provision for secondary education has been 

^ ^ . made since 1635, for many years in (Latin) 
grammar schools, later in academies, and 
since 1826 in free public high schools. These schools 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

are required in towns having more than five hundred 
families. They are authorized in smaller towns. 

Towns which do not maintain high schools must 
pay for the tuition of properly qualified pupils who 
desire to attend high schools in other towns. The 
state reimburses towns whose property valuation is 
low for such tuition. Provision is made for inspec- 
tion and approval by the State Board of Education of 
the high schools to which state-aided towns may send 
pupils. 

Under this favoring legislation high school privileges 
are open to all, and are actually enjoyed by the chil- 
dren of nearly all the towns in the state. 

. Evening elementary schools are required 

_ , -^ in towns and cities whose population ex- 

Schools •, -, • u • u u 1 • 

ceeds 10,000, and evening high schools in 

cities having an excess of 50,000, if petitioned for by 
fifty or more residents over fourteen years of age who 
desire to attend such a school. 

These schools must furnish instruction in orthogra- 
phy, reading, writing, the English language and gram- 
mar, geography, arithmetic, industrial drawing, both 
free-hand and mechanical, the history of the United 
States, physiology and hygiene, and good behavior. 
_. ,. Vacation schools are not required, but 

Vacation , . ^ u^• u a ■ • 

are being established in increasing num- 
bers. In a considerable number of cities 
and towns they are supported at public expense, in 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

Others by public-spirited persons associated for the 
purpose. 

Boston also maintains at public expense what are 
known as educational centers. Public schoolhouses are 
used in the evening for instruction, chiefly of adults, 
in various manual arts, such as cookery, sewing, 
embroidery, dressmaking, millinery and woodwork- 
ing, in vocal and instrumental music, in stenography 













f,tjia~^E.4. 



■:rJ 



F.\LL RIVKR lilGH SCHOOL 

and typewriting, and in studies in preparation for 
civil service examinations. 

Courses of illustrated evening lectures are also given 
in the schoolhouses at the expense of the school 
funds. 



23 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

^ The state in statutes names certain studies 

_ ^, J which must be taught in all schools, and 
^ others which may be taught. It also fixes 
a minimum length of the school year. But it pre- 
scribes no course of study. Each town and city 
fashions its own. 

The following studies are prescribed : — 
Orthography (1789), reading (1647), writing 
(1647), the English language and grammar (1789), 
geography (1826), arithmetic (1789), drawing (1870), 
the history of the United States (1857), physiology 
and hygiene (1885), and good behavior (1789). 

The following subjects may be taught : book-keep- 
ing, algebra, geometry, one or more foreign languages, 
the elements of the natural sciences, kindergarten 
training, agriculture, sewing, cooking, vocal music, 
physical training, including calisthenics, gymnastics 
and military drill, civil government, ethics, and such 
other subjects as the school committee considers ex- 
pedient. 

Every town and city having a population of 20,000 
or more is required to provide the teaching of manual 
training as part of its elementary and high school 
system. 

From all these suitable subjects may be chosen for 
the high schools required by law, and provision may 
also be made for preparing pupils for the state normal 
schools, technical schools and colleges. 
24 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

Elementary schools must be maintained for at least 
thirty-two weeks in each year, but in towns having a 
specified low valuation the term may be reduced to 
twenty-eight weeks. The average length of the last 
school year was thirty-seven weeks. 

High schools must be provided with courses at 
least four years in length, and must be continued at 
least forty weeks in each year. 

Graded schools throughout the state are organized 
generally on a basis of a thirteen years' course, with 
annual promotions. Usually the first three grades 
are organized by themselves into primary schools in 




BROOKLINE HIGH SCHOOL 

separate buildings. The next six grades form the 
grammar schools, and the last four the high schools. 
The local school committees have full 
power to appoint and discharge teachers. 
They are required to ascertain ' ' by per- 
sonal examination " the qualifications of 

25 



5election 
and Pay of 
Teachers 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

those whom they select to teach. They may accept 
a diploma from a Massachusetts normal school in lieu 
of the personal examination, but they are not required 
to accept it. Nor are they required to employ grad- 
uates of normal schools. In fact about forty per cent 
of all the teachers employed are graduates of normal 
schools. About fifty per cent have attended normal 
schools. A system of state examination and certifi- 
cation is to go into operation this year. Lists of 
holders of these state certificates are to be kept by the 
State Board of Education, and from these lists com- 
mittees may select their teachers, but they are not 
required to do so. 

The state by means of its normal schools and these 
examinations does what it can to furnish qualified 
teachers, but the towns and cities are free to employ 
them or not as they choose. That this is the best 
system may be a matter of doubt, but it conserves the 
traditional local independence. 

Annual election of teachers is the prevailing custom, 
but committees are authorized to elect ' ' to serve dur- 
ing the pleasure of the committee," and in Boston and 
some other cities teachers are so elected after ser\dng 
a prescribed number of years, and enjoy permanence 
of tenure. 

Of the whole number of teachers employed nine per 
cent are men. The average wages of the men per 
month are $143.33; of the women, $53.37. 
26 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 



Massachusetts has no state text-books. Each 
town and city selects its own tinder the re- 
striction that a change requires a two-thirds 
vote of the school committee. 



Text 
Books 




PITTSFIELD HIGH SCHOOL 



All text-books and other school supplies are free, 
that is, they are purchased by the town or city and 
loaned to the pupils free of charge. This applies to 
tools, implements and materials used in the various 
forms of manual training, including cookery. The 
average cost per pupil last year of all text-books and 
supplies was $i.6o. 

Schools are supported mainly under the 
^f *u^ general law : ' ' Towns shall raise by taxa- 
tion money necessary for the support of 
public schools." The amount raised by 
local taxation is supplemented by state aid in some 
towns. A few small local funds are also available. 

27 



of the 
Schools 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

In Boston the amount to be raised for school 
purposes is limited by law to a fixed ratio of the 
valuation, elsewhere it is unlimited. School taxes are 
not assessed separately, but are included in the gen- 
eral budget. 

The average expenditure per child last year for all 

school purposes, based on average membership, was 

$36.42. The lowest expenditure in any town was 

$14.94. The highest in any town was $66.31. 

^ The more complete organization of 

r ^i-.ij the schools has been made possible 

of Children . , , ,, ^ /^ , 

m many of the smaller towns by a law 
which allows the conveyance of children at public ex- 
pense to centrally located schools. This process 
began in 1869. 

In some towns neighboring small schools have been 
consolidated. In others, all the children are brought 
to one central building. Advantage is taken of the 
law to pay for the conveyance of pupils living at a 
distance from the central high school. 

. In each town and city the schools are 

_ . . in charge of an elective body called the 

Supervision , , ., , ,,. 

'^ school committee. Women may vote 

for members of this body, and women may also 

serve on it. The members are chosen for three 

years, one third retiring annually. 

They have full authority and responsibility under 

the statutes for the management of all public schools, 

28 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

and from their action no appeal lies to any central 
school authority. 

Every town and city, either alone or in a union dis- 
trict with other towns, is required to employ through 




SPRINGFIELD HIGH SCHOOL 



its school committee a superintendent of schools to 
have the care and supervision of the schools, under the 
direction and control of the committee. The powers 
and functions of this officer are not further defined 
by law. 

It is the policy of the state to equalize educational 
opportunities by aiding the poorer towns. It does 
not relieve them from the burden of local taxation, 
but it so offers its help as to stimulate the towns to 
larger efforts. Thus the towns enjoy increased ad- 
vantages, while preserving their self-respect. 

This policy is well illustrated in the plan of union 
districts for supervision. In order that all the towns 
may enjoy the benefits of professional supervision, 

29 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

small towns were at first allowed, but are now re- 
quired to unite in districts and employ a superintend- 
ent. These districts may consist of two or more 
towns, the valuation of each of which is less than 
$2,500,000, and the aggregate number of schools in 
all of which is not more than fifty nor less than 
twenty-five, or of four or more towns the valuation of 
each of which does not exceed $2,500,000, without 
reference to the minimum limit in the aggregate of 
schools. These districts are required to raise each 
year for the salary of the superintendent seven hun- 
dred and fifty dollars. To this the state adds twelve 
hundred and fifty dollars, three fifths for the salary 
of the superintendent, and two fifths for the salaries 
of teachers. 

This plan insures to those districts having a limited 
number of schools to be supervised the entire time of 
a superintendent, with a minimum salary of fifteen 
hundred dollars. The average salary of the superin- 
tendents of the state last year was $1879, only sixteen 
receiving less than $1500. While no specific powers 
are delegated to these officers by law, in fact they 
are exercising all the most important functions of 
supervision. With some local exceptions, they frame 
courses of study, select text-books, and nominate 
teachers. They have proved a powerful influence in 
elevating the school standard throughout the rural 
communities. 
30 



MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

e , , The period of required school attend- 

School • t. ^ 2u r 

AH c\a ance is between the ages of seven and 

^„j rr^ fourteen. Children between these 

and Truancy ^ .. j ,, ., 

^ ages must attend all the time the 

schools are in session. 

The school committees are required to appoint 
truant ofl&cers whose business it is to see that attend- 
ance laws are enforced. 

For the care of habitual truants the counties are re- 
quired either separately or jointly to maintain county 
truant schools, to which boys may be committed after 
conviction, on complaint of a truant officer. Truant 
girls are sent to the State Industrial School for Girls. 
_ No child under the age of fourteen 

f r'Vi'M years may be employed in any fac- 

tory, workshop or mercantile estab- 
lishment. No such child may be employed for wages 
during the hours when the schools are in session, nor 
before six o'clock in the morning, nor after seven 
o'clock in the evening. 

No child under sixteen may be employed without 
an age and schooling certificate approved by the 
superintendent of schools. 

A minor over fourteen years of age who cannot 
read at sight and write legibly simple sentences in the 
English language may not be employed unless he is a 
regular attendant upon an evening or day school, pro- 
vided a public evening school is maintained in the 
city or town in which he resides. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



019 876 359 7* 



